Visible record card cabinet



May 18, 1954 r. o. PERKINS VISIBLE RECORD CARD CABINET Filed Dec. 29, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m y w r a J $J z 4% m 0 m 5 4/ H w H & W W

May 18, 1954 T. o. PERKINS VISIBLE RECORD CARD CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 29, 1950 jaw/en for.

@WAWM M Q m PM 0 ail}! I! a i m m P NY ew w w m z W/ 0 m W Z r 5 m J I 5 p mm m I m u; v m m 5: MN m J A m w llllllllll f ||l| F.- I l ICE--- 1 j Q Q L w\ m. W m an R\ .w\ W m Patented May 18, 1954 1 UNITED STAT" E"S PATENT OFFICE 678,865 *VI'siBLE REcoRn can!) CABINET Theodore Q. Terkins, Crozet, Va., assignor to Ae neVisib le Recordsfllnm, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware nppiitstion' neesmser 29, 1950, Serial No. 203,492

"l Claim. i This invention relates to improvements in a cabinet, particularly a" cabinetrpreferably constructed of metaladaptable for housing a plu- 'rality' of slidabletrays Carrying VlSiOlB record cards; and refers specificallyto an efiicient and rugged tray-supporting' means for "such cabinet.

One-of the important" features of the present invention resides in a'cabinet of thecl'ass described having simply constructed means for supporting a plurality of superimposed record card-carrying trays, said means permitting easy and convenientremoval or partial removal of the trays from the cabinet to gain access to the record cards carriedupo'n the trays.

"Briefly described, the structure comprising an embodiment of'the present-invention includes a housingprovided with a pluralitycf superimposed tray spaces, said tray spaces'being defined by partitions upon Which thetrays move, the partitions being "supported by vertically pivoted rollers upon whichthe partitions have "limited movement into and out ofthe cabinet.

The objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from'th'e accompanying drawings and following "detailed description.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of acabinet "embodying features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal top sectional view taken through the cabinet of i Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is'an enlargeddetailed sectional view taken on'line 3+3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 isan enlargeddetailed sectional view taken chimed-4 of "Fig. 2.

Fig 5 is a detailed view of a modifiedform of partition-supporting roller.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 1 indicates generally a cabinet forthehousing of aplurality of record card-carrying trays. The "cabinet I comprises a front frame portion 2 whichis preferably constructed of metal and may "be conv'eniently die cast. The front framememberi is continuous; defining the cppdsitesides andtop and bottom of the front 5 portion" of the cabinet I. A rear frame-member 3 is also'provided and is preferably constructed of metal, the rear-frame i'r'ieinber being of 1 solid construction and fri-ning an-irnperforate back-forthe cabinet. w H g The front frame 'me'mber 2 is constructed in channel form having outer and "inner flanges 4 and -5respectively defining schema "space 6. lhe rear frame member carries a continuous peripheral flange"? disposed angula'rly withrespectto the plane of the fr'ameproper.

To complete the housing portion of the cabinet, a metal sheet is employed, the metal sheet being of unitary construction and being wrapped around the peripheral flange l of the rearframe 3 and the flange 4 ofthe front frame 2 toforrn opposite side walls 8-8, a top 9 and a bottom (not shown). The metal sheet comprisingthe side walls and top and bottommay besecured to the respective frames 2 and 3 by screws H1 or other suitable retaining means.

Disposed in generallyplane-parallel relationship to each of the side walls 8 is an inner side wall H. The inner side wall ll'at each side of the cabinet is secured at its rear end' to the frame 3 by means of screws, rivets, or the like, I2. A portion of the rear edge of each of the inner side Walls ii is disposed adjacent the inner face of the flange 1 whereby the side walls 8 and II are spaced from each other. At the front portion of the cabinet the inner sidewalls terminatein offset edges l3, said offset edges being provided with angularly disposed flanges M which are disposed in the channel 'l'of the'frame members'z, the angularly disposed members l4 being'wedged between the flanges :land 5.

Intermediate the length of each Of the'inner side walls H, a portion of said walls are offset inwardly to form shoulders l5. Spaced forwardly from the shoulders I1 the inner walls I! are again offset inwardly to provide shoulders i6. As will be hereinafter more fully described the shoulders l5 and It respectively function as stops limiting the innermost and outermost extent of travel of the partitions. To deaden or suppress sound vibrations a suitable insulating material I! may be disposed between the outer side walls 8 and the inner side walls I I.

As a feature of the present invention theinner side walls'il are provided'with a plurality of inwardly struck arms it, said arms'being formed by aperturing portions of the inner side walls H and bending the arms at substantially right angles to the surfaces of the inner Walls. A plurality ofsuch arms are contemplated, said arms being disposed in vertical alignment. Each of the arms H is provided with an aperture is for the reception of verticalshafts.

There'are four sets of vertically superimposed arms [8, two sets of saidarms designated by the reference numeral 29 being "disposed immediately behind the rear offset portions ofthe inner walls H, the arins 253 being positioned transversely opposite each other and functioning to supportvertical shafts 2!. The other"ftwo's"ets of arms'ar'e dissesedrorwaniiytr thefrcnt offset portions of the walls H and are designated by the reference numeral 22. The arms 22 are disposed transversely opposite each other and are adapted to support vertical shafts 23.

Between each adjacent pair of arms 23 and 22 two rollers 24 and 25 are rotatably positioned upon the respective shafts 2| and 23. Each roller 24 comprises a hub 23 which rotatably embraces the shaft upon which it is carried, said hub having an intermediate annular flange 21 formed integral. with the hub. Each roller 25 comprises a hub 28 which rotatably embraces the shaft upon which it is carried, said hub having an annular flange 28 preferably formed integral with the hub 28. The hub 26 carries an integral extension 38 and the hub 28 carries an integral extension 3! which when the rollers are disposed in operative position abut each other and function as spacers to properly space the annular flanges 2! and 29 of the rollers 24- and 25 respectively. In assembling the rollers 24 and 25 upon the respective shafts 2i and 23, between each adjacent arm 53, the roller 25 is disposed lowermost and the roller 24 is positioned above the roller 25. The rollers 24 and 25 are of similar construction with the exception that the annular flange 29 of each roller 25 is greater in diameter than the annular flange 2'5 of each roller 24. As will be hereinafter more fully described each opposite pair of rollers 24 and 25 upon each pair of shafts 2| and 23 function as supports and guides for the movable partitions, the partitions resting upon the annular flanges 29 of rollers 25 and in predetermined positions of the partitions, the partitions bear against the under surface of the annular flanges 21 of the rollers 24.

The movable partitions employed in the present device are generally designated by the reference numeral 32. Each partition 32 comprises a main panel portion 33 which, at its forward edge, is folded or bent upon itself to form a reinforcing or stiffening seam or bead 34, and at its rear edge, each panel is bent angularly upwardly to form a rear abutment flange 35. At each opposite lateral edge, each panel 33 is bent upwardly to form opposite lateral flanges 36, and inwardly to form top flanges 31. At the forward lateral edges of each panel a continuation of the top flange is formed in a forwardly extending convex curve, as at 38 in Fig. 3, whereby to provide pairs of hangers for the card-carrying trays, to be hereinafter more fully described.

Each partition is supported adjacent its rear end upon flanges 29 of an opposite pair of rollers 25 carried upon opposite shafts 2|, and is supported adjacent its front end upon the similar flanges of similar rollers carried upon the opposite shafts 23. In this fashion the partitions may be moved inwardly and outwardly, horizontally, the movement being facilitated by the rotary movement of the rollers 25 upon the shafts 2i and 23. To prevent canting movement of the partitions in a vertical direction and to confine the movement of the partitions to substantially horizontal movement, the upper flanges 37 at the lateral sides of the partitions are disposed in abutting relationship to the lower surfaces of the flanges 21 of the rollers 24. It can readily be seen that the guiding function performed by the flanges 21 is facilitated by the fact that the rollers 24 are free to rotate upon the respective shafts 2i and 23, and frictional resistance to the movement of the partitions is thereby reduced to a minimum.

As has been hereinbefore stated, the movet ment of the partitions 32 in the cabinet is limited and this end is accomplished by stop members 39 (Fig. 2). Intermediate the length of the side flanges 36 of the partitions, said flanges are provided with spaced slots 40. The stop members 39 are constructed of resilient strips and each member is angularly bent adjacent opposite ends thereof to form fingers 41, the ends of which are threaded in the spaced slots 40. The body portion of each stop member is bowed concavely whereby the fingers 4| normally tend to leave the slots 40, said fingers, however, being provided with hook portions 42 which prevent such separation. This arrangement, however, provides a convenient means for confining the partitions in the cabinet, the assembling procedure being as follows: Before the partitions 32 are positioned in the cabinet, the fingers 4| of the stop members are threaded in the slots 40.

This operation can be performed even though the hooks 42 may be preformed since the flexibility of the members 39 will permit such threading operation. If desired, however, the fingers 4! may be first threaded into the slots 40 and the hooks 42 subsequently formed. With the members 39 thus mounted, the partition may be moved into the cabinet in proper position with respect to the roller pairs and to move the members 39 past the offset shoulders I6 it is merely necessary to manually move the fingers 4| into the slots until the offset shoulders are passed. Thereafter, the resiliency of the members 39 causes the fingers to mov outwardly until the hooks 42 engage the defining sides of the slots 40.

In this position, the partitions 32 may be moved a limited distance outwardly and inwardly of the cabinet determined by abutment of the front or rear fingers with the shoulders i6 and I5 respectively. To cushion the impact of the fingers 4| with the respective shoulders l5 and i3, resilient buttons or pads 43 may be mounted upon the faces of the shoulders.

Upon each of the partitions 32 a card-carrying tray 44 is movably mounted. Each card carrying tray comprises a main fiat panel portion 45, the opposite lateral edges of which are bent upwardly and downwardly upon themselves to provide opposite lateral flanges 46. The front edge of the main panel 45 is bent upwardly at an angle to the plane of the panel to form a front flange 41. When the trap is completely inserted in the cabinet the front flange of the tray provides a closure for the space defined by two adjacent partitions. A forwardly extending handle 48 is mounted upon the upwardly extending front flange 41, said handle being conveniently constructed of a die-cast metal similar to the metal comprising the front and rear frame members 2 and 3. An escutcheon plate 49 may be mounted upon each handle 48 for the reception of an index card or the like which identifies the subject matter of the cards carried upon the respective tray. The rear portion of the main panel 45 is rolled in the form of a bead 50 for the reception of two oppositely extending pintles 5| upon each of which a roller 52 is rotatably mounted.

To permit the insertion or the disposition of each tray 44 upon a partition 32 one top flange 37 of each partition is provided with a recess 53 whereby the end of the tray 44 carrying the rollers 52 may be positioned upon the supporting partition.

The trays 44 are adapted to carry a plurality of conventional visibl record cards (not shown) and in order to render said cards available for inspection or to make entries thereon the trays are movable outwardly from the cabinet. Initially all of the partitions 32 are in their innermost position with the rear flanges thereof in substantial contact with the inner face of the rear wall 3. When it is desired to inspect or operate upon a card carried by a predetermined tray the tray is moved outwardly from the cabinet. Such outward movement is accommodated by the tray sliding upon the bead 34 at the forward edge of the partition 32 and rolling upon the rollers 52 at the rear portion of the partition. The tray is thus moved outwardly without initially disturbing the position of the partition. Such movement is continued until the rollers 52 carried by the tray engage the curved flanges 39 of the supporting partition. Continued outward movement of the tray then results in outward movement of the supporting partition. As has been hereinbefore described this outward movement of the partition is greatly facilitated by the provision of the supporting and guide rolls and 24 upon which the partition is carried. The outward movement of the tray and partition continues until the fingers M of the stop members 39 abut the pads 43 carried by the shoulders Hi. When the tray has moved to this position, the forward portion of the partition extends beyond the confines of the cabinet, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. The tray which moves outwardly with the partition and which causes the partition to move can then be canted downwardly, the rollers 52 operating in the curved flanges s8 functioning as a horizontal pivot for such movement. In this position the forward portion of the tray may rest upon the support upon which the cabinet I may be carried and reference to the cards upon the tray may be had, the tray being in such position that entries upon said cards will be greatly facilitated.

To return the tray to its normal position within the cabinet, the tray is moved from its canted position to a substantially horizontal position in plane parallel relationship to its supporting position. The tray may then be moved inwardly. Initially the tray moves relative to the supporting partition, the supporting partition initially remaining substantially stationary. When the tray has been so moved as to bring the rollers 52 into contact with the rear flanges the tray functions to move the partition inwardly until the rear fingers 4| of the stop members 39 abut the pads 43 upon the shoulders 15. In this position the front flange 4T1 closure for the partitioned space in which the tray is disposed.

of the tray provides a 5 Referring particularly to Fig. 5 a modified form of supporting roller is shown. In this form of roller a single hub 54 carries spaced annular flanges '55 and 56. The annular flange 55 corresponds to flange 2'! of the roller 26 and the annular flange 99 corresponds to the annular flange 29 of the roller 25, the only difference being that the rolier is constructed in one piece. Otherwise, the function'of the roller is identical with the pairs or" rollers 22 and 25 and the manner of mounting the rollers is the same.

It is apparent that herein is provided a cabinet construction wherein a plurality of movable partitions and trays may be housed, the supporting construction for the trays and partitions being such as to provide easy and convenient manipulation of the movable members. Modifications of the present invention will be suggested to any one skilled in the art and hence it is not intended that the present invention be limited except as necessitated by the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a cabinet comprising a housing, partitions disposed in said housing for limited movement into and out of said housing, trays carried by said partitions and being movable relative thereto, means carried within the housing for supporting said partitions, said means including vertically superimposed arms carried by opposite housing walls, vertically disposed shafts supported by said arms, a pair of separate rollers disposed in superimposed position between each adjacent pair of arms, an annular flange carried by each roller, the flanges of each pair of rollers being vertically spaced from each other, the flange 01 the lower roller of each pair of rollers being of relatively greater diameter than the flange of the upper roller of each pair, said partitions being disposed with their side edges embraced by said annular flanges of the pairs of rollers, the flanges of the lower rollers of said pairs of rollers supporting the partitions and the flanges of the upper rollers of said pairs of rollers being disposed above and adjacent the upper side edges of said partitions to guide the partitions during their movement into and out of said housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 439,869 Edwards Nov. 4, 1890 1,272,313 Porter July 9, 1912 1,438,333 Ruwitch Dec. 12, 1922 2,015,389 Whitted Sept. 24, 1935 2,238,005 Welters Apr. 8, 1941 

